Huh. Maybe they will be able to market his home run milestones after all.

Think it’s a coincidence A-Rod’s Grapefruit League return comes on a home game? It’s a sound business decision for the Yankees, who surely will sell more tickets and draw more eyeballs to YES than if they fielded a lineup without their most interesting player. Or if this didn’t mark his first game back after missing all of last season due to a suspension for illegal performance-enhancing drug usage and ...

Jeff McKnight, a versatile player who spent six seasons with the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles, has died. He was 52.

McKnight’s family told the Mets that McKnight died Sunday after battling leukemia for 10 years. His father, Jim, who played for the Chicago Cubs briefly in the early 1960s, was born in Bee Branch, Arkansas.

Jeff McKnight made his big league debut with the Mets in 1989 and hit .233 with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 218 games. He singled in his final at-bat for the Mets in ...

UT, ranked No. 1 in Div. II, tied it at 2 when Phillies reliever Nefi Ogando walked in a run with the bases loaded. That prompted a mid-inning pitching change to Hector Neris, who promptly gave up a grand slam to UT shortstop Giovanny Alfonzo.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the ninth, but Cord Phelps grounded out to the pitcher to end it.

Richard J. Albero, a former naval officer and retired teacher, will begin his journey up the east coast on Monday, March 2, at 10:00 a.m. and he’ll be doing so primarily to honor his nephew, Gary Albero, who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York.

In conjunction with that effort, Albero also intends to raise $25,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project as a nod to Gary, who he describes as a charitable man who always put in the effort to raise awareness and funds for causes that were close to ...

The policy, Scherzer said, would have provided him with $40 million tax-free if he suffered any type of injury that prevented him from receiving an offer below the Tigers’ original $144 million proposal. Scherzer was covered if he injured his shoulder. He was covered if he required Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He was covered for every possible injury under a policy that he said cost him $750,000.

“Don’t get me wrong. I know finance. I know deferral money. I get all that. But this was the ...

Price said Votto hasn’t participated in all of the team’s field drills, but doesn’t expect the star first baseman to miss any significant time. There has been no decision yet on when Votto will begin playing in exhibition games, Price said.

“Those little things, I’m starting to get to the point where those, I’ll be able to join in on and really be a part of nearly everything,” Votto said.

Maybe it’s not a good idea to sign minor leaguers to long-term contracts.

General manager Jeff Luhnow is invested in both youngsters; he signed Singleton to a five-year, $10 million contract last June, and acquired Marisnick from the Marlins last July 31 in the six-player Jarred Cosart trade. But the Astros, acting on a mandate from owner Jim Crane, also are trying to improve quickly, as evidenced by their active offseason and increase in payroll.

Iglesias played one inning in today’s exhibition season-opening 12-2 win over Florida Southern. He made one put-out – a pop-up to end the the first – and took one at-bat – a groundout in the bottom of the first.

“It was a great feeling to get back out there and just being in the uniform is amazing,” he said.

Pierre and Dunn are the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson of their generation. They rose to prominence around the same time, became the focal points of rival factions, and, in their declining years, saw their differences reconciled. And finally, they exited the stage almost simultaneously, having left us in a far different place philosophically than we were when they arrived.

So the Pirates extended him another lifeline, encouraging him to seek former short-lived teammate Marlon Byrd’s help in doctoring his swing. The Pirates have not given up on Tabata, because they can’t afford to—the contract he preserved by accepting those Minor League assignments pays him $4 million this season, making him the team’s fourth-highest-paid position player, whether he is on the team or not.

Monday, March 02, 2015

To that end, yes, of course, some teams invest more in analytical personnel, and some do a better job of integrating that into strategy, tactics, and method on the field or court. But try naming some and why, specifically, they’re successful. You’ll get as far as an accommodating owner or infrastructure, like the Mavericks or Rockets enjoy, or the efficiency of scale the Red Sox or New York Yankees can sometimes employ in turning small-market tactics loose with big-market ruthlessness (and ...

In Milwaukee during his first two big-league seasons, Aoki spent most of his time defending batters straight up, without much shading in either direction, Kuntz explained. Aoki preferred to charge in, rather than charge back, and glued himself to the same spot before almost every pitch.

The Royals operate a more fluid defense. Kuntz does not just ask his defenders to adjust from batter to batter. Sometimes he calls for shifts from pitch to pitch. Aoki was an “analytical” ...

TAMPA, FL—Tentatively approaching the All-Star third baseman during a spring training workout Friday, New York Yankees rookie outfielder Tyler Austin reportedly worked up the courage to tell Alex Rodriguez how much he used to hate him as a kid. “Hey, Alex, I’m sure you get this from the younger guys all the time, but I just wanted you to know how much I hated your ####### guts when I was growing up,” Austin told the Yankees slugger, adding that he will “always remember” watching ...

“I don’t care. Numbers are numbers,” said Pedroia, who hit a combined 16 home runs over the past two injury-plagued seasons. “We’re here to win the World Series. I don’t care about any of that. If people don’t know that by now ‘¦ We won the World Series and I hit nine home runs and everyone said I lost my power. Well, I’ll lose my power if I win the World Series. What is everyone’s job here? Win. We don’t give a crap about anything else.”